Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: News

Wade Barker - THE BATTALION Presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, left, heads into the auditorium for his speech with wife Ann and George H.W. Bush Tuesday.

Mitt Romney says a strong United States is inherently linked with a safe world.

Former Governor of Massachusetts and Republican presidential candidate, Romney addressed his would-be agenda if elected president at the George Bush Presidential Library Complex on Tuesday.

Romney is one of the top Republican contenders for president in 2008, running against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City.

Romney said the most dominant public issue today is the war in Iraq and the global war on terror.

He said a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would lead to further instability in the region. He also called for an expansion of the U.S. military through increased funds and 100,000 additional troops.

"We have a president who leads out of love for his country," he said.

Romney chastised Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for saying the United States has a different foreign policy for each party and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, for making a visit to the Middle East.

"At this time of war, her actions stand as the most partisan, divisive, and ill-considerate as any national leader of this decade," Romney said.

Romney said the United States must renew and strengthen its international partnerships. He said, if elected, he will hold a "summit of nations" with the leaders of the free world as well as moderate Islamic nations.

"Only Muslims can defeat radical Islam," he said. "But we can help."

Romney suggested enhancing and unifying what he called "civilian instruments of power."

Romney also said the United States must seek energy independence.

"We need to stop sending billions of dollars to other nations [for energy], some of which is being used against us," he said.

He noted that this is as much of a national security issue as it is a social or economical one.

"I'm a red speck in a sea of blue in Massachusetts," he said in reply to an audience member's question about how he would deal with the partisanship of Washington, D.C., "I realized I couldn't get anything done without cooperation."

Romney, 60, was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, and said he quickly balanced a budget while also making education a top priority.

In 2004, Romney initiated a program that would give high school students who finished in the top 25 percent a free education at any of the public universities in the state.

President George H.W. Bush said Romney's father, George Romney, former governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate in the 1968 elections, taught him more about public service and volunteerism than any other individual and said that Romney garnered equal admiration.

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